F-35 DAMAGED DURING CAS TRAINING MISSION

[fubar57]

US Marine F-35B accidentally shoots itself during training

 

[pbehn]

Why do they have to be so hysterical all the time? There is a more than slight difference between a round exploding and shooting yourself

 

[fubar57]

Yea....that was every headline I looked at so I thought I would make mine a bit more realistic

 

[pbehn]

Yea....that was every headline I looked at so I thought I would make mine a bit more realistic

Even more hysterically, the article quotes several other aircraft shooting themselves, happily no humans were involved in any way.

 

[cvairwerks]

Better report states that it was a SAPHEI-T round that went off, just past the muzzle. It's been classified as a Class A mishap, so will be an expensive fix for the airframe. Had it been an APEX round, damage would have most likely been even worse, with a probably loss of the aircraft.

 

[me109g4]

Seems this generation of designers have not given any attention to the fiasco of not putting internal guns into the F-4 Phantom, would venture to guess the "stealth" capabilities of the airframe are compromised by hanging that pod off it too.

 

[pbehn]

Seems this generation of designers have not given any attention to the fiasco of not putting internal guns into the F-4 Phantom, would venture to guess the "stealth" capabilities of the airframe are compromised by hanging that pod off it too.

The F-35 has (or can have) internal guns, there is a video showing it, a very tricky piece of kit, but this is a different weapon for close air support.

 

[cvairwerks]

The A model has an internal gun. The B and C models were specified from the start to not have internal guns. Adding internal guns to them would require significant redesign of the airframes.

 

[GreenKnight121]

The F-35A (Air Forces version) HAS an internal 25mm gun.

The F-35B and F-35C do not - they have the capability to carry a Terma A/S multi-mission pod (MMP) carrying the GAU-22/A and 220 rounds; the pod is mounted on the centerline of the aircraft and shaped to reduce its radar cross-section. In lieu of the gun, the pod can also be used for different equipment and purposes, such as electronic warfare, aerial reconnaissance, or rear-facing tactical radar.